Keck's Exclusives: NCIS Casts Star Wars Veteran

NCIS is getting a new Leroy Jethro — who'll look a lot like Lando Calrissian! Don't worry, TV's top series isn't replacing uber popular lead Mark Harmon in his role. Rather, Star Wars veteran Billy Dee Williams will appear as another Leroy Jethro — who Leroy Jethro Gibbs was named for. In an October episode, Williams will play LJ, a World War II veteran and close friend of the Gibbs clan.

"This is a very rich, emotional story and we couldn't be happier to have Billy Dee Williams bringing this character to life," executive producer Gary Glasberg tells me exclusively. "Mr. Williams appeared in some of my favorite films from Lady Sings the Blues and Brian's Song to the Star Wars saga [The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi]. Watching him work with Mark Harmon and Ralph Waite [as Gibbs' father, Jack] will be a real treat."